There’s so many things to feel and see while you’re awake…

Don Van Vliet / Captain BeefheartCombining elements of free jazz, blues and rock, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band produced what is commonly regarded by critics and fans as one of rock’s few truly original bodies of work.

Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) retired from the music industry after 1982’s Ice Cream For Crow album to concentrate on his primary love – paint.

The Radar Station is a purely fan-run site which aims to document every twist and turn in the tale of this unique individual.

Header photograph copyright Anton Corbijn, used with kind permission.

Don Van Vliet: 1941-2010 – tributes and fond farewells

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In December 2025 Gerry Fialka interviewed bass player extraordinaire Greg Cohen for his podcast I’m Probably Wrong About Everything. Greg has played bass for a bewildering and diverse number of musicians over the years. During the interview he told this great story about how he came to be introduced to Don : Seven years younger than me is my little sister Jeannie who followed after my mom. She looked like a little Eskimo when she was born, full head of hair, black hair and from the very earliest age she was creative. From like the beginning. And she would sit by my mom and absorbRead More →

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Published by Anxiety Press 2025 Paperback : 52 pages From the Introduction by Sarah Hajkowski : Captain Beefheart joins Yamrus’ collection of more than 40 books and nearly 4000 publications in inviting those new to its subject matter. Over the lip of a kooky kidney bean pool bobbing with references and forgotten wonderfulness is John Yamrus warmly waving.  …  John  Yamrus wants readers to puzzle with him. Review by Steve Froy Trout Mask Replica is one of those albums that seems to inspire people to want to write about it, whether to say how good it is, how bad they think it is or howRead More →

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Thanks to the tireless work of the group dedicated to scouring recordings of John Peel radio shows for musical rarities a previously unknown version of Mirror Man has been discovered. Found on the tape of John’s show from Sunday 21st January 1968 was a good quality recording of Yellow Brick Road from the Safe As Milk album rather than taken from the band’s first Top Gear session which wasn’t recorded until three days later, and is introduced by Don himself who was obviously in the studio with John. At the end of Yellow Brick Road it cuts into an astonishing version of Mirror Man !Read More →